7 Canceled or Reintroduced Olympic Sports.

Do you ever wonder how long sprint kayaking will remain an Olympic sport or find yourself asking, “Whatever happened to the Olympic tug-of-war event?” The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been making important decisions since the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, namely which sports will be included in the Olympic Games and which will be left out. Sporting events are added, discontinued, and sometimes reintroduced on the basis of their international popularity. Here’s a brief history of seven sports that have been cut from the Olympic ticket for a period of time or for good.
Until 2016, golf had been featured in the Olympics only twice: in the 1900 and 1904 Games. The 1900 Paris Olympics featured a men’s and a women’s event. In 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, a team golfing event supplanted the women’s event. After a 112-year hiatus, the sport returned to the Games for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.Show more

Until 2016, golf had been featured in the Olympics only twice: in the 1900 and 1904 Games. The 1900 Paris Olympics featured a men’s and a women’s event. In 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, a team golfing event supplanted the women’s event. After a 112-year hiatus, the sport returned to the Games for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Nominally the creepiest of Olympic sports, skeleton sledding was reintroduced to the Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2002. Its preceding appearance was in 1948, and before then it had appeared in the 1928 Olympics. Why these odd years? Well, both of these Olympics were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where the bob run called Cresta Run, well known among skeleton enthusiasts, was built in 1884. Since skeleton sledding was essentially limited to Cresta Run in the public eye, it was dismissed from the Olympics until artificial bob runs could be made and the sport had the chance to increase in popularity. It soon did, since there are plenty of thrill seekers who love launching headfirst down curvy ice trails, sliding as fast as 93 miles (150 km) per hour and steering with only the slightest movements in their shoulders and knees.